South Korean actress Kim Hieora, who shot to fame in Netflix’s hit revenge K-drama The Glory, has been accused of being a bully when she was a student. Kim has refuted some of the claims.
A new exclusive report by South Korean news outlet Dispatch, published on September 6, alleged that Kim Hieora was involved in bullying activities during her time at Sangji Girls’ High School.
Dispatch claims that the actress was part of a group of students known as “Big Sangji”. According to former Sangji Girls’ High School student “B”, who spoke to the outlet, the group were allegedly involved extorting money from others, verbal abuse and physical abuse.
Other alumni of the school, student “C”, claimed that the group would “ask us for money”. They added: “With that money, they would go buy cigarettes, alcohol, and go to karaoke. They would buy presents for their boyfriends using that money. If you didn’t give it to them, they would continue to harass you.”
Speaking to Dispatch, Kim Hieora said that she was a part of Big Sangji during her schooling days, but claimed that they “[weren’t] a group of bullies”, as translated by Koreaboo.
“I wasn’t a model student… I did mess around,” said The Glory actress. “At the time, it was popular to have an online community with your friends. Big Sangji was the name of the online community. It was not a secret place for only bullies.”
Kim Hieora also claims that she was “hit by the older students at the school for no reason” but that she did not “hit the younger students or my friends”.
“I do admit I was a spectator to these things, and I am sorry. But I did not participate in verbal abuse or assault,” she added. “Maybe I didn’t take it seriously because it was the younger students who were being bullied. Thinking back on that, it was a big mistake for me to be a bystander.”
Kim Hieora recently appeared in season two of the superhero K-drama series The Uncanny Counter.
